Transcript Slide 1
Islam Expands Muhammad’s Death 632 – Begins the split within the Muslim community • Muslims elect Abu-Bakr (a friend of Muhammad) as the “successor” or CALIPH Rightly Guided Caliphs • 4 “elected caliphs” – Abu-Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali – Their rule was called a CALIPHATE – They used the Qur’an and Muhammad’s actions to guide their leadership Problems • Soon after Muhammad’s death some Muslims in the Arabian peninsula abandoned Islam, some stopped paying taxes, and some even called themselves prophets. • What did Abu-Bakr do?? Jihad • “Jihad” means “striving” • There are two forms of “jihad” – The inner struggle against evil OR – An armed struggle against unbelievers Expansion • The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs used “jihad” to spread Islam throughout the M.E., Europe, and parts of Asia. Why was Islam able to spread?? • Empires surrounding the Muslim empire were weak (Byzantine and Sassanid Empires) • People in these empires were sick of being mistreated • People were attracted to the economic benefit for Muslims not having to pay a poll tax Treatment of Conquered People • Muslims allowed people to follow their own religion as long as they paid taxes • Christians and Jews did not have to perform military duties • Christians and Jews were not able to spread their religion w/i the Muslim Empire Assassinations • The assassination of Uthman in 656 and Ali (Muhammad’s cousin) in 661 was a huge turning pt. • A family known as the Umayyads take power and the idea of electing caliphs is over. Umayyads • They did two things that angered many Muslims – Moved capital from Mecca to Damascus – Began surrounding themselves with wealth and ceremonies **Split within Islam** • Sunni – Shi’a Split – Sunni – group of Muslims (majority) who accept Umayyads’ rule to preserve peace • They claimed that people just needed to follow Muhammad’s example – Shi’a – group of Muslims that resisted Umayyads’ rule • They claimed that the caliph needed to be a descendant of Muhammad • Meaning the “party” of Ali • Members are known as “Shi’ites” Abbasids • 750 – Abbasid family takes control of Muslim Empire and kill almost every Umayyad • Moved capital to Baghdad Abbasids • Rule from 750 – 1258 – They create a large and prosperous empire – It gets too large to control and local leaders began taking control Fatimid – a caliphate formed by Shi’a Muslims (N. Africa) who claimed descent from Muhammad’s daughter Fatima Muslim Trade • Merchants spoke one lang. – Arabic -Created banks throughout the empire -Banks offered letters of credit to merchants called “sakks” -Europeans called these letters “checks” Muslim Empire • By the 10 Century Baghdad had a pop. of almost 1 million when Paris had a pop. of only 38,000!! • At this time the Muslim Empire was extremely prosperous and advanced compared to the rest of the world!